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Some relativistically distant foe tries to wipe us out from some time in the past (light speed, so many many years ago). We recover from this event fully and l

Some relativistically distant foe tries to wipe us out from some time in the past (light speed, so many many years ago). We recover from this event fully and locate the source. Why attempt to retaliate? This would be like waging war on Italy for atrocities committed in roman times wouldn't it? Even if you could guarantee success, you have no information about the moral culpability of the target, and would have to assume they have lifespans many multiples of humans to assume any such quality, wouldn't you?

kmm 8y ago
It's not about (justified) revenge, it's about security. 1500's Spain was as dangerous to the natives of the Americas as the Romans were to the Carthaginians 2000 years earlier. If some society didn't have qualms with attempting planetary scale biocide, who's to say their genetically practically identical successors won't do the same?
- deleted 8y ago
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a1369209993 8y ago
> Why attempt to retaliate? Because retaliation shifts our foe's "risk of destruction if drone sent" vs "risk of destruction if drone not sent" tradeoff toward "don't attack".